Kobe Bryant hinted recently that once he recovers from the torn Achilles injury that prematurely ended his 2013 season, he’d continue his playing career beyond next season.

That was a bit of a change from what had been widely accepted, which was that once Bryant’s contract was up at the end of next season, he’d pull the curtains on what would at that point be an 18-year NBA career played by one of the all-time greats.

But being robbed by injury of one of his final opportunities to compete for a championship has changed all that. Now more than ever, it seems Bryant is determined to make one final push at winning one, and possibly two more titles before he’s ready to hang ’em up.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant set off a mild panic among Lakers fans on Friday afternoon when he selected “The Last Chapter” as the slogan that best represents his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

“The Last Chapter,” you see, sounds a lot like the quote Phil Jackson gave when he decided to return for his final season with the Lakers in 2010-11, and seemed to imply Bryant was thinking of retiring after next season.

Far from it, a knowledgeable source told ESPNLosAngeles.com on Friday.

Bryant wants to be “back next season with a vengeance,” the source said. And he wants “two more cracks at it to win seven NBA titles at least.”

The number seven is somewhat of a magical one in NBA lore where titles are concerned, considering that Michael Jordan finished his career with six. Winning one more championship than Jordan wouldn’t solidify anything in terms of Bryant’s greatness, and likely wouldn’t do much to help his case for being “better” than Jordan, however you choose to define that word in this context.

Putting aside the pursuit of titles which Bryant has always maintained was his primary motivation for playing, the Lakers would welcome his presence on the roster for as long as he chooses to play. The only question would be at what price, considering Bryant’s $30 million salary he’s going to be paid in the final year of his deal.

While the team is happy to extend him for a year or two beyond that at a number that pays respect for all he’s done, there’s a fine line. Because under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, the Lakers would have an extremely tough time assembling the level of talent around Bryant to legitimize those championship aspirations should they decide to overpay for his services.

In fact, in Saturday’s dunk contest, he didn’t look like a dunker at all.

The Pacers star missed all three attempts of his first dunk, and a Black Panther mask was by far the biggest draw of his second. Oladipo was eliminated after the first round.

Maybe Dennis Smith Jr. wasn’t the only eliminated dunker who left something in his bag. This Oladipo dunk – 180 degrees, throwing ball off the backboard with his left hand while in mid-air, dunking with his right hand – while preparing in Los Angeles was awesome.

A statement released Wednesday by the NFL and NBA clubs says their 90-year-old owner is resting comfortably at Ochsner Medical Center, a hospital which also serves as a major sponsor and which owns naming rights to the teams’ training headquarters.

Benson has owned the New Orleans Saints since 1985 and bought the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012.

In recent years, Benson has overhauled his estate plan so that his third wife, Gayle, would be first in line to inherit control of the two major professional franchises.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he’d be surprised if Kawhi Leonard played again this season, a stark reversal from just a month ago. Back then, even while announcing Leonard was out indefinitely with a quad injury, the San Antonio coach said Leonard wouldn’t miss the rest of the season.

After spending 10 days before the All-Star break in New York consulting with a specialist to gather a second opinion on his right quad injury, All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard bears the burden of determining when he’s prepared to play again, sources told ESPN.

Leonard has been medically cleared to return from the right quad tendinopathy injury, but since shutting down a nine-game return to the Spurs that ended Jan. 13, he has elected against returning to the active roster, sources said.

The uncertainty surrounding this season — and Leonard’s future which could include free agency in the summer of 2019 — has inspired a palpable stress around the organization, league sources said.

At first glance, this sounds like Derrick Rose five years ago. Even after he was cleared to play following a torn ACL, the then-Bulls star remained mysterious about when he’d suit up. His confidence in his physical abilities seemed to be a major issue, and he was never the same player since (suffering more leg injuries).

But the Spurs famously favor resting players to preserve long-term health. They seem unlikely to rush back Leonard. They might even sit players who want to play more often. And Leonard isn’t Rose.

Still, it’s clear something is amiss in San Antonio. Maybe not amiss enough to end Leonard’s tenure there, but the longer this lingers, the more time for tension to percolate.